After finishing the meal, we sat down with the three heroes and Marian to review the current situation and discuss our strategy.
「So basically, we’ll be handling this dungeon while Yuuki-san fights the Evil God in the royal capital.」
「That’s right.」
「Just us against an Evil God, huh…」
「It’ll be fine. Our levels have gone up too, and we have Yuuki-san’s weapons.」
「I’m sorry… It’s all because I’m so useless…」
The three of them hurriedly tried to comfort the dejected Marian.
「Well then… I should head back soon. I’ll come again in about a week… Oh wait, that’s during my engagement party…」
「「「Engagement!?」」」
「Yeah, with four people.」
「「「Four!?」」」
「As expected of Shisho!」
「So yeah, I might not make it exactly next week, so I’ll come a bit earlier. Marian, I’ll see you later.」
「Y-Yeah…」
「Yes…」
「See you later!」
「Goodbye!」
I transferred back to where Amilia and the others were.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
When I returned, it looked like they were on a break.
「Everyone, I’m back～」
「Welcome back～」
「Welcome home!」
「Wecome baack」
「W-Welcome back desu!」
「Huh? Where’s Shia?」
I glanced around, but Shia was the only one missing.
「She’s making tea right now.」
「I see.」
「Did you need something?」
「Yeah, there’s dish cleanup to do. At this time, the kitchen should be empty.」
This castle’s kitchen is huge, which is great, but there are so many dishes that storage is split across multiple warehouses. Cleaning up is a real pain…
「In that case, I know how!」
Selene raised her hand energetically.
「Really?」
「Yes. I borrow it sometimes.」
「Got it. Then let’s go together.」
「Yes!」
She linked arms with me right away and pulled me along. Just before we left, Amilia made a complicated expression, while Liliana looked envious.
(Maybe I should make something and bring it to them later…)
「By the way, Selene, why do you borrow the kitchen so often?」
I didn’t really picture Selene spending much time in the kitchen.
「Um… We’re going on an expedition soon, right? I wanted to make delicious food for Yuuki-san to eat during it…」
Selene’s cheeks flushed as she spoke. Caught off guard, I felt my own face heat up.
「I-I see. Then I’m looking forward to the expedition.」
「Y-Yes!」
We arrived at the kitchen, and luckily no one was there. I finished washing the dishes, then took out the ingredients for the sweets Tomoe-chan had written down for me from spatial storage (item box), measuring them carefully.
「Eggs, milk, sugar… Vanilla beans are hard to get, so let’s substitute with essence. And powdered gelatin…」
「Yuuki-san, what is this?」
Selene, who had come back after returning the dishes, picked up the box of gelatin and examined it curiously.
「Ah, I was thinking of making some sweets.」
「Sweets!?」
Selene’s eyes sparkled. She leaned forward eagerly at the word “sweets”.
「Yeah, though I’m mostly copying what I’ve seen. One of my wives, Tomoe-chan, really loves making sweets. She taught me when we made them together.」
「Hee～」
「So, Selene, help me out?」
「Yes!」
I pulled out the cooking utensils from spatial storage (item box) and started preparing. Since we didn’t have pudding cups, I used some unused iron and quickly shaped them with 『Extraction』.
「First, combine water and sugar in the pot and heat it slowly. Stir gently. Once the color changes, take it off the heat. It’ll thicken up, so transfer it to the containers…」
「——Sniff sniff. Something smells burnt… Is it okay?」
Selene leaned in to smell the caramel sauce. I hoped it was fine…
「Probably… it should be…」
Next, I put the milk and other ingredients (except the eggs) in another pot and heated them while stirring.
「Once it’s just about to boil, take it off the heat.」
「Got it!」
I left the pot to Selene and whisked the eggs. Meanwhile, I took out a sieve and used ice magic to make ice that fit perfectly inside the cups.
「There… should be… good.」
After confirming the fit, Selene brought the pot over.
「Yuuki-san, I kept it from boiling!」
「Good. Now add the whisked eggs and mix.」
「Yes!」
While cooling it with wind magic, I watched Selene’s movements. Her technique was actually better than mine…
「Now strain it through this sieve.」
「Strain it?」
「Yeah. I’m not totally sure why, but it makes it smoother.」
「I see… There, done twice!」
「Now pour it into the cups. Once it cools, we’re finished!」
「Wow! That’s so easy!」
「Yeah. Tomoe-chan taught me that simple ones like this are best when making them together.」
「Mmm… When we go to Yuuki-san’s world, I’ll have to ask her to teach me…」
「Sure. Tomoe-chan’s great at teaching. She’d be a perfect instructor.」
「Yes!」
After cleaning up, I used wind and ice magic to chill the finished puddings while we headed back to the room.
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